I've got Cooties!
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| It's officially a relic. |
What I actually have is an ancient relic (redundant?) from my childhood. My sister and I stopped in a local estate sale establishment and found this treasure. We both yelled, "COOTIE!!!!!" at the same time. It is a little unnerving to find that your childhood toys can be exhibits in a museum. We have yet to play this - a simple, thrown-die game in which you try to be the first to build your cootie. It was an educational game and we may have been the only kids in our neighborhood familiar with the proboscis. Not that it impressed anyone.
The discovery of the game led to fond reminiscing about other toys and games. As I waxed eloquent about my much-missed Poor Pitiful Pearl doll, my sister stopped me in my tracks by telling me she had it. I was thrilled until I realized that she meant to keep it, quoting the "possession is 9/10ths of the law". I did my best to press for the remaining 1/10th, but she wasn't moved. Maybe she'll give me visitation rights...
*****
They say that, as you get older, your sense of smell diminishes greatly. My sense of direction may be skewed and my focus may have gone out the window (along with the fruit flies), but my sense of smell has sharpened to an alarming level. It is both a blessing and a curse. I can walk outside and revel in the smell of the pine trees, but I cannot make it down the laundry product aisle in the grocery without gagging. I love natural smells, but wonder if the people in the lab who concoct scents for candles, dish soaps and laundry detergent have ever made it outside to experience what these scents actually smell like. I recently got a Mrs. Meyers dish soap (all natural and blah, blah, blah) that was supposed to be mint. Well, I have a long history with mint, and it doesn't smell like any mint I've met. Unless, perhaps, there's a jasmint? Don't even get me started on a simple scent, such as vanilla. I have yet to meet a vanilla-scented candle that is even close.
Citrus and pine scents seem to be closer to target, but even those tend to go so far awry that one is left with a tang of chemicals in ones nose.
I'm going to go with Super Power, as the alternative would be rather unpleasant. (Dead bird pendant...)
17 comments:
I avoid the laundry product aisle too..mind you I have found that wearing a mask means that I don't have to make a detour to avoid it!
I think I remember seeing new "cooties" in the toy aisles pretty recently!!
Our favorite game was 'Uncle WIggily' and 'Shenanigans'. I saw an old Uncle Wiggily game and snapped it up. My grandson loved it too. But, I read the little rhymes and in my late 50s, realized they were pretty poorly written. Congratulations on Cootie though.
You can make your own mint cleaner, perhaps. There are loads of recipes, although I am confused on why so many of them call for adding essential oils to the mix (which would account for why your mint cleaner did not smell like mint cleaner. )
I simply cannot stand a lot of scented products, especially candles. Occasionally I find a mild one that I can tolerate for 10 minutes or so, but it's rare.
i feel your pain! for my entire life i have been super scent sensitive. i can't walk down the bread aisle at the grocery store because the chemical smells make me sick. i can't go near candles or else i get such a headache that i have to lie down in a dark cool room for hours. when i smell something unnatural it sticks with me for hours if not the day. i avoid a lot of things because of this. natural smells are welcome, just not fake ones.
I love Cootie what a find!
Let it go and one day when your sister isn’t home grab your copy of her house key put on a stocking face mask and rescue your poor pitiful dolly.
As for sents I agree. But ,and that is a big BUTT, there is a huge difference between products made with EO , essential oils and fragrance oils and the stuff they use in dryer sheets. My neighbor uses multiple sheets per dryer load. I swear because when I walk out front on days they do laundry if the dryer is going I am hit by overload to the point oh eyes tearing and my nose running. I believe their laundry room is vented in the back of their house and the prevailing breeze puts me downwind to it. YUCK!
Hey, you could get a job as a 'super sniffer'! I imagine some have lost their jobs due to COVID symptoms. I, too, have a pretty good sniffer which is also a curse. I don't have as much problem with stores (although I go in them seldom anymore and never down the laundry aisle because I get Nellie's Washing Soda online from Costco), but there is a big, nasty science experience of spoiled food, empty containers of all kinds, and dirty clothes in Brian's room and it is affecting the overall smell in my house. The hot, dry, dusty summer has contributed, too. Ugh.
OMIGOSH! My brother and I played Cootie more times than either of us (or you and your sister) could begin to count. I hadn't thought of that game for years. Now you've got me thinking of others. Our all- wooden set of Pick-Up Sticks was another one that gave us hours and hours of stretched out on our bellies on the living room floor trying to best each other.
I have an allergic reaction (coming close to vomiting -- sorry but that's the way it is) to most chemically produced smells. Yes, soaps, cleaners, air fresheners -- gag! The worst for me is the perfume some females (and I can't leave out the males with their after shave) drench themselves in. I cannot fathom why anyone thinks that is alluring, attractive or enticing. They say anything we put on our skin is directly absorbed into our bodies. Would you drink any kind of a perfumed chemical? (Pushing soap box back under bed now.)
I certainly hear you with the stomach churning smells, I make my own soap for body and hair from Olive and Coconut oil. It only takes a few bars with other ingredients to make my own washing powder.
All,instructions are on Down to Earth blog by Rhonda Hetzel, along with many simple DIY household hints.
Ditto on all the unnatural smells. Used to have people in my workplace that I wouldn't allow them to shut the door if they came in my office. A red headed secretary was one of the worst. I would literally back up a few steps if she stopped to chat in the hallway. Was out to dinner with some ex co-workers recently (those that did not drown themselves) & a lady walked by & her scent curled our eyelashes & burned our noses. We all said at the same time - Is Big Red in the house?
The only perfume smell I like is Aqua Velva or Old Spice (in minute amounts) - reminds me of my Dad.
There are people at work who use those scent beads that you add to the laundry. Those drive my nose crazy. On top of everything else, if the person talks to me too long, it actually begin to make me feel queasy.
I hate scented everything!!! perfume. omg, perfume. and I would have to tell whatever guy I was dating at the time to stop wearing aftershave and/or cologne. I do not get why everything has to smell like something it's not.I remember the cootie game, we had it. and the cars we lusted after as teens are now considered classics! what the hell.
I remember that Cootie game! I haven't thought about that in ages!
A lot of products are way too heavily perfumed, I agree. A lot of people are too!
We had a newer version of the game growing up. I remember the heads always falling off so we eventually superglued them in place and I assume eventually lost enough pieces that we could no longer play it and threw it in the trash.
I loved Cootie! Haven't seen that since forever. I'm scent sensitive, triggers breathing issues.
So same when it comes to smells. One day I was walking in the woods near my house, and I kept smelling what I thought was someone's fabric softener. Those woods are surrounded by suburbs, and I could hear kids playing in their yards. So, it didn't seem unplausible, to me at the time, that I could smell dryer sheets. Turns out it was actually the wintergreen I was walking on. Ha! Ha! Ha! I was super happy when I figured it out and realized it was natural and not chemical. I hate fabric softener, usually, and I swear some people smell so strongly of "laundry scent" that they must be using it as a cologne.
Also, congratulations on finding Cooties! Awesome game!
Get out!!!! I used to play Cooties as a kid! Is it Cootie or Cooties? I laughed out loud when I saw your post! I did not have the doll though. I destroyed dolls that were given to me...I wanted animals, not dolls! My favorite toy was actually a metal gas station with a wind-up lift. I bet that would bring a pretty penny nowadays.
You are fortunate as my smeller and my taste buds are both dying off.
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